Dissatisfied with Stoltenberg

DISCONTENT: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has not impressed the NATO family in his handling of the aftermath of the attempted coup in Turkey in July 2016. Many consider Stoltenberg far too soft in his dialogue with the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in particular when discussing the aftermath and purge following the attempted coup. Photograph shows Stoltenberg and Erdogan at a meeting in Ankara on September 8, 2016. Photo: NATO

Numerous NATO members and high level military officers have expressed strong dissatisfaction with Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s handling of the aftermath of the coup attempt in Turkey, informed NATO sources tell aldrimer.no.

“The relationship between NATO and Turkey is at a standstill and is very strained. NATO countries are not happy with Jens Stoltenberg’s act of going to Turkey to give president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan a pat on the back,” a source tells aldrimer.no. Some of the reactions have been quite strong.

It is broadly known in NATO that many Turkish officers were summoned home to face imprisonent – and in some cases death – during the purges in Turkey.

Quickly quashed

Tanks rolled into the streets of Turkey on Friday, 15 July, 2016. Two of the bridges over the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul were closed. Warplanes were also heard in the skies over the capital of Ankara, where both the presidential palace and parliament were bombed or shelled during the evening. But within hours, the alleged military coup was reported quashed. The broad view within NATO was that Erdogan himself had staged the coup. That idea is supported by the fact that no attempt was made to apprehend Erdogan and or prevent his private plane from taking off from his holiday retreat in Mermaris, in southern Turkey, to Istanbul on Friday evening, according to sources interviewed by aldrimer.no.

Just a day later, Erdogan had a list of 1,600 people suspected of being party to the coup.

Called home

“The Turkish officers in NATO were called home and most were arrested. The purge was in the 80-90 percent range. We also know of people who were shot,” a NATO source said.

At least seven officers who worked closely with NATO were shot, aldrimer.no has learned.

A significant number of Turkish officers sought political asylum in the countries were they served.
After the putsch, all Turkish officers serving with NATO were initially told to remain in place and await further orders. Afterwards, those Turks were ordered to return to Turkey immediately.

Undercover

Norway is no exception. The most senior Turkish officer, a lieutenant colonel who served at NATO’s Joint Warfare Centre at Jatta outside the southwestern city of Stavanger, was ordered to return home. The colonel did not go, and is now in hiding.

Norwegian authorities refuse to comment on the case or say whether he has sought political asylum in Norway, the national newspaper VG reported, which was first to report that Turkish officers after all likelihood have sought asylum in Norway.

Several others stationed in Norway chose to go back to Turkey. Most of them were arrested and imprisoned immediately, sources told aldrimer.no.

Change of strategy

Several in the first wave of recalls were reluctant to go. After a while, when the Turkish government understood that the officers were not coming home, they received a new letter saying they were being given new postings as part of a reorganization.

“All those who returned home after letter number two were also arrested,” a NATO source said.

Expressed solidarity

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expressed solidarity with Turkey when he met Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on 8 September 2016. This was the first meeting between Stoltenberg and Erdogan after the attempted coup in July. A post on NATO’swebsite about the meeting underscored the bloc’s support for the Turkish people and their democracy. The events in mid-July and the extensive purge of officers, judges, journalists and others were not mentioned. In stead, NATO chose to make a more general reference to the importance of preserving democracy in Turkey.

The loss of close colleagues and friends as a result of the events in July and the following mass arrests has sparked strong reactions, and even anger, among many NATO officers.

However, other sources point out that Stoltenberg had demanding and conflicting considerations to balance when he met Erdogan for the first time after the attempted coup. Erdogan had expressed harsh criticism of what he believed was a lack of support from Western countries.

Russia and bases

The Kremlin has been very determined in its attempts to strengthen relations with Turkey, as it has been in cultivating ties to NATO-member Greece in recent years.

NATO and several of its member countries are also highly dependent on access to Turkish territory, especially military bases in Izmir and Incirlik in Turkey.

NATO’s physical presence at these two bases continues as normal for the time being. The Turkish president has not given any indications to NATO about possible changes.

These are important bases and airports for transit flights and monitoring of Syria, Iraq and other parts of Middle East and Mediterranean.

“But the atmosphere is very strained. No one on Turkish side knows what’s next. That colours day-to-day life. It’s not over by any means, but so far, there have been no consequences for NATO’s personnel and presence,” said a NATO source.

Declined to comment

Aldrimer.no has approached Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg for a comment, but one of his aides referred all questions to the NATO press office. In a written statement, press officer Daniele Riggio said Stoltenberg previously “has commented publicly on the failed coup and its aftermath, and has discussed these issues with the Turkish political leadership”.

“He has made clear that those responsible for the failed coup must be brought to justice, and it is important that this be done with full respect for the rule of law”, the statement reads.

* * *

Tell us: Do you have further information on this story or do you wish to provide input on other topics/stories you would like to see us report on? Contact us at post@aldrimer.no or through the encrypted contact form at kontaktskjemaet on our web pages. If you prefer being completely anonymous – please download TOR browser and enter our designated whistleblower platform www.securileaks.org while operating the TOR browser.